Weather unfavourable for firefighting efforts: BC Wildfire Service

The Forest Service has provided this photo of the Beatton Airport Road Fire.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Four evacuation alerts are in place for the areas north of Fort St. John that could be affected by fires, including one on the area around the Beatton Airport Road fire that was taken out of effect for a brief period.

Fire Information Officer Amanda Reynolds said they recommended to the PRRD that an alert could be put back in place as the fire had grown since it was taken out.

Meanwhile, windy conditions in the region — reaching up to 60 kilometres an hour — are expected to keep efforts to defeat the fires at bay. Fire Information Officer Emily Epp with the BC Wildfire Service says cooler temperatures are expected.

“We aren’t seeing any significant relief any time soon in the weather forecast,” she said. “We might get a little bit of rain on Sunday, but we’re expecting it to go back to seasonal conditions with no precipitation.”

The Beatton Airport Road fire currently has 86 firefighters assigned to it, says Reynolds. It is 85 per cent contained, and still 7,035 hectares in size.